___filled days

pictured: alex (behind a pink mosquito net) and elie playing some music in the barn

there's always so much to do when you have vast amounts, or any amount, of land. you can weed, you can plant, you can pick, you can whack, you can water, you can feed, you can repair...etc, etc. and when there's so many people always around, there's lots of fun to be had. like playing volleyball, weird board games (which i'm sometimes okay at), music (something i leave for the ol'man to do), kite flying (apparently i suck at this as well), or like today's afternoon activity - naming the 50 states in the US (alex was the only one to get them all - i missed 3...maryland, missouri, and iowa). and all these possibilities of things to do make for a full, productive - yet relaxed - day. and i think that's pretty great.

pictued: alex learning to fly a kite // alex flying a kite

and because the days are instantly satisfying, most people don't even take their allotted two days off. and i can't help but wonder, why not? but i guess if you have nothing special to do, then hanging out, or helping out, around the farm isn't something you need to escape from. to be free from. and i think that's pretty great too.

of course, we've taken a free day (just one so far) and it was well spent. lucky for us, the cold weather went away for a day and a lovely day was to be had. wanting to save on some money, we decided to just walk and walk, and see where the road would take us.

horses in meadows (plus one pony...yay! im a girl), old people with dogs on beaches coupled with a picnic, an encounter with a german named herman who rode on an ATV looking for a run over deer and spoke of sandwiched strapped to his belly as he escaped germany pre-wall, and viking ruins replaced by modern homes are what we found.

pictured: me and a tiny house (playground) // alex in land of the vikings

and for the days of work...the other day we planted hundreds of onion bulbs into what looked more like rocks than soil. now, my hands look like they belong to an eighty year old woman. soil really dries you out. which is why all should remember that plants live in such an environment and you must water them, lots. which is also what we did. and then we planted some seedlings. different kinds of cabbage and cauliflower and other things that were in swedish, so i don't really know what we were planting.

pictured: me wheeling over some plants // the crew preping the land

and then it's lunch time. and we eat and eat...until it's time to eat again.

pictured: the most vibrant meal i've ever had - beet salad with some indian thing and cucumber juice

worlds away

pictured: rosenhills and blossoming trees // the cafe // the caravan where we sleep

though close in proximity and even perhaps in concept, rosenhills and appelfabriken couldn't be more different.

plentiful in apple, plum, and cherry trees - amongst other fruits and vegetables - rosenhills is more like a "farm" and less like a "house garden" (ie appelfabriken). the cafe, too, is larger, with a range of yummy offerings, both sweet and savory - which many customers come to enjoy during the summer weekends. there's also more wwoofers - currently there are 7 of us, but we've heard that when it's really hopping there can be 15 or more - so it kinda feels a bit like camp, at least for a girl who's never been to camp.

and there's a very different vibe here, just as predicted - hippy-ish. which is interesting, since that's not me at all. people are calm, things get done when they do, and there's lots and LOTS of breaks. it's nice i suppose, but it's weird, as i always have an inherent urge to want to work, when i feel i should be working. something to work on (haha), perhaps...or not...hmmm.

but anyways, it's nice. and there's lots to do (when you feel like working). just look at the picture above. it's alex and it's me, doing what our papas probably always wished we had done at home...weed whacking (why use a lawn mower?). and then there's our "morning routines" - the two i signed up for are feeding the hens (and taking their eggs) and trash duty (which i felt no one else would take, so i should). and alex is the dish man - it's better for his sensitive skin that's now surprisingly brown-ish (at least from a far, when all the freckles start to blur). and we've done lots more. like putting up a pig fence (which unfortunately we will miss the arrival of the pigs...and i'm really sad about that), weeded the biggest, toughest weeds known to land, and pimped the "new" wwoofer "apartment" (it's a trailer type thing that i'm happy won't be up and running until we are gone). and i've picked herbs from the woods and from the ditches to make teas and body scrubs and other stuff with. and alex has arranged wild flowers.

pictured: picking birch leaves - used for lemonade, scrubs, and much more! // gathered Älgört (elkherb) - used for medicinal teas // arranging flowers - used for tables

and we sleep in a caravan thingy, which is nice in a way, because it's one of the only private "rooms" around. but there's a downside to sleeping in an old trailer that lies under a bunch of blossoming plum trees - lots and lots of flying "animals" (people here call insects animals). we even have had multiple visits from what we think is either a really big queen bee or wasp, or possibly a big hornet (which we're told is good, because they eat wasps). to us, none of the above are good. but it flies in the night, buzzing about, and alex wakes up as though a bear were about to eat him, which wakes me up, and it's only 2:30am and the sun is coming up, and then my brain gets all confused and then i'm cold, and then my muscles remember they hurt, and yeah. not good. but besides that, it's not so bad.

plus, the family that owns the place is very nice and the wwoofers are a pleasant group to be around. we even played a game of soccer together a couple nights ago, which i was pretty horrible at (having only ever played at other kids' birthday parties in elementary school). alex of course was much better, having had pro training from his dad back in the day. and since we were playing during swedish dusk, there were swarms of mosquitoes attacking us. (seriously, swarms. i've never seen so many in one place, and i'm from swampy florida). and after the game we rode in a VW bus (classic hippy) singing songs with a ukulele (classic hippy) to a lake for a swim (classic swedish). too bad the water was about 13 celsius (approx 55 fahrenheit, aka really COLD). but alex and i stripped down and jumped in. good sports, right? brrr. i was sneezing all night.

back to the hens. below is a picture. hens are starting to creep me out. i don't like these hens. they are white, and scary. i hope they don't peck my eyes out as i steal their unborn babies. sorry...

pictured: hen house // farm fresh eggs

hej då...

written last night:

So tonight is our last night here at appelfabriken. It’s been so pleasant, the stay here, that I’m not sure any other place we visit will have the same comfort of home as this place has. Which of course is okay – I know each place will be special in it's own way. But this place was very nice. nice people. nice food. nice home. nice work. And we had our own, nice room. Oh, boy...what have we done...

Although I’m a bit nervous about the new place, rosenhills, I’m also excited. It’s supposedly a pretty cool place – similar in theme to the appelfabriken, but larger and more hippie-ish. So, we’ll see. And let ya know.

For now, a look back at the good times we’ve had over the past two weeks at the appelfabriken:

team yellow takes on tiny islands with german team

pictured: team yellow - when is too much, too far???

Off to explore the archipelago we said! Unfortunately, it was already 11am, and all the boats to the further out (nicer) archipelagos had departed. So, Fjäderholmarna it would be...

The archipelago near stockholm is a chain of different sized, yet really small, rock-like islands. For locals, they are a place to escape the city during long summer days and relax in tiny red houses on the ocean drinking really expensive alcohol. And Fjäderholmarna is the closest (not the nicest) archipelago to Stockholm – only 30 minutes by ferry.

While only a handful of people rode the ferry with us, and even fewer were already there, Fjäderholmarna is quite populated – by birds. there are sea gulls, small tiny birds, and ducks, but then there’s a whole ‘nother kind of bird. One that has taken a stance against visitors with a vengeance. One that’s filled with pure hate. it's some kind of goose-like monster.

These angry, tongue-showing, charging, wanna-be ducks look calm from afar. But once your eyes meet theirs, all you can see is hate - and you can’t help but feel a bit anxious - for good reason. As soon as you trespass into their self-deemed territory, they begin to tuck their heads close to their body, stick their tongues out, and hiss at you. And you must be sure to watch your back – as they will charge you and if they are really lucky, bite you.

Alex and I happened to stumble upon what looked like a nesting area of goose-creatures - and boy were we sorry. From every angle these angry beast-of-a-geese were giving us the stink eye and tongue. Let’s just say they didn't make for the idyllic archipelago image portrayed in brochures and on the world wide web.

pictured: the coastline // friedemann, myself, and alex // battle of the birds // skull and bone slide boat

But, besides angry geese, Fjäderholmarna provided us the space for a nice day. We had a picnic with our german pals - amelie and friedemann - walked around the island more than once, and slid down Nordic playgrounds. Not bad. Not sandhamn (a pretty nice archipelago we visited last year). But not bad.

will work for food

prior to arriving at the appelfabriken, i was sure that during our wwoofing experience, alex and i would certainly shed a few pounds. this doesn't seem to be the case yet, as we literally are always working for food. and it's not just any food. it's decadent and delicious, and non-stop with desserts, cheese, and lots and lots of butter and bread. but, besides the whole belly thing, i think it's really great - this working for the simple, yet necessary and happy thing - food. because after a long (well, it's not really long, only 6 hours) day, there's nothing like sitting down for a cake break in the kafe. and somehow, it's better than that old bi-weekly paycheck (at least while the savings account is still in okay shape).

but before there's food, there's "work". and today we had our hands in earthworm-rich dirt, pulling weeds and on the constant prowl for slugs. weeds are funny things. they are unwanted by some, because they intrude on other plant's ground and make a controlled garden seem overgrown and imperfect. i have a bit of a different outlook.

some "weeds", like dandelion, do indeed grow like weeds in this area (the picture from yesterday makes that obvious). but i can't help but feel bad as i rip up roots of plants, just because they wandered over into a bed of mint. and i especially feel bad because i know how pricey some green things sell for in new york farmer's markets - green things like dandelion, which i happened to buy last summer. so, what's come out of today's weeding is that when i have my own garden i'm going to make it "wild". and let weeds be what they really should be called - plants. i'll embrace them. i'll eat them. and i'll let them travel to lands frequented by others. i also happen to like that aesthetic better anyhow - a mish mash of greeness. it leaves you more to discover...

but, until i have my own garden, i'll pull weeds and put them in the compost for the worms to enjoy.

pictured: me yanking on a dandelion // the harvest // alex gets down to the root of weeds

and the reward of seeing your fully weeded garden is complemented by the kafe's leftovers - yummy sweet treats.

pictured: our plates // my favorite treat

another reward today was seeing the shelves alex and i sawed/installed being used in full. they looked pretty nice, but it really hadn't anything to do with what we did. they look good because big oak trees make nice wood, and wood looks best when it isn't trimmed square on all sides so the bark can be exposed and appreciated.

pictured: shelf #1 behind the table - plus check out those baseboards! // shelf #2

here we go a wandering among the leaves so green...

today was another free day, and we decided to keep it local.

first stop: a flower-filled field
just across the road, next to the sheep, was an amazingly dandelion-packed meadow buzzing with the fattest bumble bees this girl's ever seen.

next up: the lake
continuing down the dirt road is the pathway to the small floating dock that lies on lake mälaren. and because today had the most pleasant weather yet, alex and i just sat there - eating chocolate cookies and bathing in the warm sunlight. very, very nice. we wished we had a boat though.

and then: forest time
there are many foresty pockets here on Färingsö. so, of course we thought we must explore these moose and deer frequented areas. unfortunately, no moose or deer were spotted today. just lots of horse droppings, spider webs, and lots and lots of mossy green goodness. it's amazing really, the moss. it's everywhere and it's so soft. nature's carpet. that bounces. and bushes, that we think are blueberry, are everywhere. so that's nice too. nicer when there's blueberries i'm sure. but still, very nice.

we stopped for a little picnic down by a palace that's across a huge field of dirt. at this palace is another foresty/park thing that's really nice. and it was the perfect surrounding for some fresh rhubarb nectar (courtesy of appelfabriken) and some sandwiches with appelfabriken's own lingon-ketchup. yum!

all in all, today was just right. sunshine, naps, walking, picnicking, and such.

old news made new

plant boxes go on a diet

for those of you who've been waiting to hear the latest and greatest in regards to the infamous plant boxes - wait no more. above is the "pretty-much-finished" project. yes, there were some obstacles - such as the bloating from compost-overload. but we fixed that with some good ol'plant girdles (aka supports). now, i think it's pretty nice looking. hopefully it won't totally blow its soil-fatness on itself or be useless after this season.

horses like kaka

luckily for swedish horses, kaka is cake, and the cake at the applefabriken is made with apples and coconut and is absolutely delicious. this here picture is an image of a recent visit from a 'horse-riding club' who stopped by for a little coffee and cake break. horses are big. horses are weird. and apparently horses are stupid (according to swedish horse owner).

made by america (part 2) + summer nights

above - picture of the day

so the challenge of building base boards for the kafe continued on. one might think you'd get better at sawing angles after doing it for a whole day - but that's not the case with team USA. sure, one could say it's because the right tools aren't available (we are using what looks like a 50 year old hand saw - which also doubles as some kind of angle creator, a chisel that's continually about to crumble with each hit from a perfectly fine hammer, and some tough a nails file thingy) but i still can't help but think that it's not just the tools. it's us. there's got to be a better way of doing things. better than our way.

so, to start things off, we spent roughly 30 minutes trying to figure out how exactly to use a hand saw to draw angles. Lars had shown us how to do it yesterday, but for some reason it appeared much harder this morning. to say the least - it made me feel very, very stupid. like some toddler trying to figure out how to put the square into the square hole. i was thinking how embarrassed i'd feel had people been watching - besides alex, who was equally incapable.

as you can imagine, between the mind puzzle of using a saw as a compass and alex's lack of geometry know-how (seriously, lacking), the day wasn't looking too efficient. yep, we were well on our way to cutting approximately one angle per 30 minutes.

pictured: alex doing what he does best (not cutting angles) / the goods / 'base boards' installed (kinda)

now, we are practically finished. but tomorrow comes the scary part. nailing the boards to the kafe's building. it's scary cause it's nails. what if we mess up? what if someone realises we actually have no idea at all what we are doing (ever)? what if there was some communication error? i dunno...guess we'll just have to wait to find out.

pictured: me in our room with the golden light coming in (around 8pm)

in other topics...sweden right now has a pretty sweet sunset happening almost every night. and when i say night, i mean 11ish. each day the sun stays up longer and longer and rises earlier and earlier (i haven't woken up to experience this yet - that is before 5am - but apparently dawn has been happening at 2:30am). so the evenings are golden hued as the sun sets and a brilliant royal blue as it takes a quick nap. very nice. very weird.

pictured: the blue night sky - it's way bluer in real life (around 11pm)

im so full right now. like a fat cat. like the fat cats that lie around the house. we eat pretty well here. that's a good thing, filled with good things...like apple marmalade that tastes like apple pie filling. and plum marmalade made with whole vanilla beans...that goes perfect with butter...mmm. im so full, but i still want...more...

made by america

somehow, alex and i have been designated 'construction team USA', here at appelfabriken. it's quite funny, seeing as how i've never been a master of measurements (sure, i love building things, but anyone who's ever seen anything i've made knows it's lacking real craftsmanship) and alex hadn't really ever done much of anything in terms of 'construction' (not to say he doesn't have a natural talent for it, or maybe it is to say that). regardless of the skills we came here with, we've built two plant boxes and are now on a new project - putting up some kind of molding on the walls inside the kafe. sounds easy. well it ain't.

big wooden planks are never easy, i've learned. and because team USA lacks any real skills, we are unable to foresee potential hurdles - and only realise them as such when they have become quite obvious.

pictured: alex 'masters' the saw / i pretend i'm the wood's chiropractor / what not to do

example - the attempt to carve out a notch in the planks for some cables to hide under.
as we begun this seemingly simple task, we unfortunately didn't see the plank we chose had a huge knot in the wood. oh no big deal you say. well, we also didn't see that right where we were planning on chiseling out the notch is where this sturdy knot lay. yep. awesome. so, after many minutes of chiseling and sawing, we eventually made our way through this knot from hell - but not without some close calls. note picture #3 - this is alex's attempt at chiseling out a notch. that's right, the chisel went straight through the wood to the other - visible - side. i'm no expert, but i'm pretty sure that's the worst kind of craftsmanship. ah well. no one will notice - right? i patched that puppy up with a little sandpaper and some sawdust. sure, that knot we were hacking at was now about to fall out of its nice little home like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. but with a little hammering here and there - perfecto! go team USA!

so, tomorrow we will continue on. hopefully we've learned something from today...such as taking notice to the wood you are about to use? being careful where your chisel is aimed? that grass isn't the best work surface?...or maybe we haven't. stay tuned to find out!

dirt...lots and lots of dirt...and cake!

pictured: plant box gets a layer of newspaper to sidetrack weeds / the biggest bags of soil i've ever seen / wheelbarrow madness / alex with rich compost - filled with worms

there's nothing like wheeling dirt back and forth on a dirt road to give ya sore muscles. it's one of those things that after you do, you think 'geesh my body is sore, but damn it feels good!' i think that's what people who go to the gym or workout say they feel. but i think gyms are pointless money sucking machines. think about it. you pay money every month to work your body. but the workout is simply for selfish satisfaction. because besides six-packs and biceps, your gym workout has done nothing for anything - there's nothing you've accomplished. unlike the wheelbarrowing - which works the whole body and serves as a means to transfer huge bags of dirt to desired location to grow desired plants - in this case different kinds of lettuce - that will feed your body so you can do more. now that makes sense. and it's free.

and then there's cake. that's something selfish i'll take anyday.

here at the appelfabriken, the kafe and butik are open friday through sunday. people come from near and far to enjoy nice cakes, pies, cookies, coffee, tea, and sandwiches in the greenhouse or around the garden. there's also a butik - or shop - which sells a plethora of yummy things - more jams and ketchups (mmm for lingon ketchup!) than you could ever imagine. and they are all made, by hand, at sweden's smallest factory - the appelfabriken (aka katharina and lars).

and this friday, the wwoofers were in charge of all three business (there's also a cat hotel). which, was pretty funny given no one really speaks swedish. so, of course, the first customer to arrive was a young couple and i was the only person there to greet them. so i thought 'let me put those rosetta stone lessons to use!' and said 'du talar engelska?' (translation: do you speak english?' too bad my grammar was wrong - although that happens to me in english too!), and luckily they did speak english. another encounter happened with an older man, who didn't speak english. i was just hanging out in the garden, painting the plant box with some flax paint (supposedly it's healthy for you) and he started rambling nonstop to me in swedish. i just smiled until he finished and to his disappointment told him i didn't speak swedish. the only thing he had to say in english was ' you don't speak swedish???? how is this possible????' then he walked away and alex spoke swedish to him and his old lady inside the shop. sorry, old man.

and at the end of today we had a cake party with the leftovers in the kafe. my favorite treats were the rhubarb tea and raspberry?banana bar thing. they were deliciously perfect after a long day of composting, planting, and fence fixing.

pictured: rachel in the kafe with yumness / yumness / the butik with a young shopkeeper / flaxa the dog with alex the human in front of the greenhouse

a little cold never hurt nobody...

pictured: getting excited at ice cream delivery in the countryside / rachel with ice cream pack of 36!

the other night after another round of 'exquisite corpse', a sound familiar to all kids - yet unfamiliar in the countryside - came 'round these parts. it was the ice cream truck! and rachel (a young wwoofer from maryland) ran outside - impressively fast - and discovered the ice cream truck had just passed our appelfabriken home. so, of course, alex and i booted up and ran out with her to catch the truck turning around. it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to come face to face with a sweet swedish lady selling quite the variety of offerings. she was intent on pushing the 36 pack - equipped with pops like chocolate, pear, strawberry, and so much more...so we handed over our 100kr. yep. nothing like a cool ice cream pop in 40 degree weather. thanks sweden!

pictured: rosendals trädgård kafe / me & the ol'boy enjoying some sweet treats / picnic time with tiny flowers

yesterday, alex and i had our day off from wwoofing. so we headed on into stockholm to enjoy some city centered fun. once again, weather was on our side and the sunshine was plentiful. and yep, you guessed it, still cold! but as i've already mentioned, there's no stopping outside eating or picnic fun. so that's exactly what we did.

and here in sweden there's something called "Allemansrätt" which translates into "everyman's right". meaning, it's everyone's right to go as they please on the land. so you never have to worry you are treading on private property or roaming some place you shan't be - cause, it's encouraged to enjoy nature and get lost - because it's your land and my land...

hmm, sounds pretty familiar...oh wait, maybe it's because i grew up singing the classic - "This Land Is Your Land" (this song is actually what i had to sing to get into 5th grade chorus)

here are the original lyrics via wikipedia from 1944:

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Island

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

I saw below me that golden valley

This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

While all around me a voice was sounding

This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling

A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,

This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Island

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me.

...as far as i know, the states haven't any "everyman's right rule". so, why did i grow up learning such a visionary tune? was it just about reflecting back on better times? a lesson in history? pride for our conquering nature? meaningless, yet catchy...

our exquisite corpses

pictured: the garden before (pre-plant box) // a little afternoon lunch in the sun // playing in finished box #1 // the boxes are done! (almost...)

and that's today's accomplishments. it feels very nice to get back in sync with one's body - to remember that the real muscles are in your arms, legs, and stomach - not so much in your fingers. and it's probably that way because we evolved to do more than type type type (yes, i know, i'm blogging on a computer at this very moment.) but seriously. what if all this space-age, futurama hoopla makes humans evolve to have really thick muscles on their fingers? imagine how that would be. big sausage sized digits...yick.

and last night we wwoofers (there are now 5 of us) played the drawing game "exquisite corpse". can you guess which parts are mine??


video: new german friends help make building boxes ultra-fun!

you can't plan a box, you can't plan a life

pictured: stockholm on a nice evening // us at our stockholm rental apartment with frukost // us in the forest near the appelfabriken // alex relaxes with the cat

today commenced our wwoofing adventure here on the ekerö islands - specifically Färingsö – of sweden. it's a peaceful place about a hour outside of stockholm, but it feels many many miles away. goats baa across the street, horses and cows lay about, and there's only the sound of weird birds crowing (...or whatever unknown bird does). it's quite nice i'd say. and the weather, luckily, was wrongly predicted. so instead of miserable rainy days, thus far, we've has a nice shine of sun and a cool breeze greeting us.

and this morning started with a nice breakfast of bread with jam, honey (both made by the appelfabriken - where we are staying) and some new kind of cheese that's more like peanut butter than cheese. after our little frukost, we set off to our first project - to build two very large plant boxes that would eventually house a kitchen garden of lettuces with old scrap wood and vintage window panes. i love using saws, drills, and that sort of thing (even though alex did most of the sawing) and i think plant boxes (no technical name needed) are pretty and purposeful. so, what the perfect task for me!

and the lesson learned at the end of our work day (which, by the way, was only 6 hours, and Lars, one of appelfabrikens owners, came out to tell us the day was over at 4...and that we took a short lunch - which was again, yummy, and in the sun of a garden...crazy!...but how nice) was that no matter how much you think you've got the right plan, you've probably overlooked something valuable that changes the outcome. tangibly - today numbers were taken (metric is way easier) and things were cut, but we somehow still managed to mess up several times and the plan didn't really work out so well (ahh, to experience a new kind of messing up that is stress-less and educational!)

anyway, i like thinking this new life of mine has no real plan. sure, i've got some ideas brewing in the ol'fraynebrain, but i don't want to over think anything. i've done that. i'm over that. so thanks wwoof lesson #1!

video: the lambs/sheeps just across the way - chewing on some grass, eating some bark, and just hopping about...

i want me a teeny, tiny garden house...tack!

oh lovely stockholm. today's discoveries:

first. playgrounds here are way cooler than back in the states. forget the space-age crap. stockholm makes it old school with wood, rubber, and metal. sure, there's nothing safe - kids are crying here and there and i'm sure broken bones are always happening. but how else is one suppose to learn their personal limitations? and the choices of your danger are plentiful - stand on rocking baskets, pedal around in circles, climb a crazy dinosaur's back or roof top, zipline down on a bungee-cord-type disc, or stumble on into some weird extra-large barrel. i really wanted to partake in the day's fun. but, for fear of being a creepy american girl, i held back on my urge to do so.

second. the sun is taken full advantage of. today wasn't what a new yorker would consider warm - 50 degrees fahrenheit - but the sun was a-shining, so people took to the parks for some picnicking and the docks for a little sunbathing (a little too far i think, but boy are docks nice or what?). it was like watching a bunch of bears coming out of hibernation. i suppose not having sun for more than half the year will do that to a civilization.

third. the awesome tiny house communities that dot the shorelines of the city are the best eva. these garden communities were build around 1918 and are a place for city-folk to grow some flowers and tend to their gardens. it's pretty much what i've always wanted since i was a tiny girl (all tiny girls want tiny houses, right? i once tried to convince my mom to let me build one in our front yard/garden - but that never happened...boohoo) i don't think it's easy to get in on these communities, as it's probably something you hope to inherent. but maybe there could be something like this back home. what do ya say?

fourth. alex looks nice in wild flowers.